Quote:
Originally Posted by Maria
Mark,
Does everything you do w/arms in front of you involve increase in pain? Like writing by hand as well as typing/using computer? Are all positions in terms of arms in front of you disabling re computer work? Driving for any amount of time.. or is a certain position re extension of the arms that increases or generates your pain?
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Maria, it is not painful for me to work with my hands in front of my. I feel quite normal and comfortable, then wham... all of a sudden, I can't keep going because of very high pain levels. Driving has never been a problem for me, but like most very tall people, I sit quite low with my seat back nearly reclining.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maria
Can you work w/o doing computer related work for a while (like a year at least) and see how you progress.
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Are you on drugs? I think I'd need to chop my arms off for that. OK, I'll calm down. I actually do that a lot. When things were very bad for the first few months of 2010, most of my work time was spent lying on the floor, dictating letters, emails, etc. It is very inefficient. (Back then, I didn't even get the few hours that I get now.)
Unfortunately, I'm cursed with having a mission. I still pour most of my limited capacity into GPN. I can't imagine stopping it. I'll continue pursuing options, albiet very carefully.
Judy, it's so hard to consider surgery. As bad as I am and the deminished capacity that I have... I'm still a thousand times better than I ever thought I'd be during my lumbar problems. Some of the time, I'm able to sustain such a high activity level. I have periods of normalcy. On most days, I experience pain levels of 7 or 8, but I also spend more time at 2 than at 7 and above. If I can not do anything, I'll avoid high pain levels but it's impossible for me to live like that. If I try to push through, I'll get to a 9 pretty quickly.
We'll see about the discography. I tolerate all these types of procedures very well, but it worries me because I'll be in Germany and will have to travel back by myself. If the discography sets me off, that might be a disaster. I like the CT guided procedures in Bonn, but I've had a ton of radiation. Bertagnoli is an AMAZING needle jockey, so I'd trust him to do it with flouroscopic guidance. I'll see... fortunately for me, all options are open and I frequently get to spend time with the best of the best.
Mark